Impact of the Outage
On March 5, 2026, Amazon outages significantly disrupted services for tens of thousands of users globally. The incident, which began around 2 p.m. ET and was largely resolved by 8 p.m. ET, raised concerns about the company’s software deployment practices and potentially cost millions in lost revenue during peak shopping hours.
Details of the Incident
Users reported various issues, including problems with checkout, payment processing, and accessing account information. By 3:49 p.m. ET, reports of issues had surged to over 20,000, with approximately 18,000 users experiencing problems by 2:30 p.m. ET, according to Downdetector.
Amazon’s website and shopping app were down for some users, particularly affecting services like Amazon Fresh. Despite the widespread nature of the outages, Amazon clarified that the incident did not appear to be related to its cloud services, which continued to function normally.
Cause of the Outage
Amazon attributed the outages to a software code deployment. An Amazon spokesperson, Jennie Bryant, stated, “We’re sorry that some customers may have temporarily experienced issues while shopping,” and emphasized that the company worked diligently to resolve the situation.
The incident did not go unnoticed in the tech community, with developers and competitors taking note of the deployment failure. The irony of the situation was highlighted, as Amazon is recognized as a leader in cloud computing through its Amazon Web Services.
Looking Ahead
While Amazon has resolved the issues and confirmed that the website and app are now running smoothly, uncertainties remain regarding the exact financial impact of the outage on the company. Details remain unconfirmed.
